🧋Reducing Single-Use Plastics, Foodware & Packaging in Newton, MA!🍴
Two years after they started, members of Newton, Massachusetts’ Plastic Reduction Working Group are celebrating passage of a fantastic comprehensive ordinance to reduce single-use plastic, increase reusables, support recycling and compostability, and more this fall. Their hard work and perseverance paid off and serves as an inspiration to us all!
In November 2021, Newton, Massachusetts City Councilor Vicki Danberg put out a call to those that had been involved in passing the city’s polystyrene ban in 2019, inquiring who was ready to jump into a new round of plastic reduction policy.
Throwing their hats into the ring with Councilor Danberg were Sunwoo Kahng, Newton Sustainable Materials Management Commission Chair, Green Newton Board Member, Alan Gordon, Newton Sustainable Materials Management Commission member, Green Newton Board Member, Massachusetts Sierra Club Executive Committee and Toxics Team member and Newton Plastic Reduction Working Group member and Shara Ertel, owner of Fulfilled Goods and member of Beyond Plastics Greater Boston. Shara recalled her eagerness to be a part of the effort, "As the owner of a refill store in Newton that sells bulk foods and many reusable products that help my customers significantly reduce their use of single-use plastics, I was especially excited to be part of the team advocating for this new ordinance. I hear frequently from my customers about their frustrations with the prevalence of such single use plastics."
The foursome formed the Plastic Reduction Working group and began by surveying plastic waste reduction policies in other municipalities in Massachusetts, other states and abroad. As they began drafting a list of plastic items they wanted to ban, they engaged stakeholders in conversations. Councilor Vicki Danberg stressed the importance of early engagement, "From the beginning, we engaged with all the stakeholders - the business community through the chamber of commerce, restaurant owners, Newton's health commissioner, the mayor, my many colleagues on the City Council, managers at local senior centers, the local hospital, and more. Listening to and incorporating their feedback was important to getting us to a unanimous vote at the full City Council meeting."
At the time the group was working, Newton had in effect a Plastic Bag Reduction Ordinance, which was expanded in 2019, a Sustainable Food Containers and Packaging Ordinance (a ban on disposable plastic stirrers and foam polystyrene food containers in restaurants), and a ban on miniature alcohol or "nip" bottles.
One item the group immediately agreed on banning was black plastic takeout containers and other plastic items were gradually added through the process, including via a Skip the Stuff provision which Alan recounts being the least discussed by the committee and without opposition. "Through my advocacy with the Massachusetts Sierra Club, I was very aware of what other municipalities in Massachusetts were doing, and our initial goal was to include everything that had been banned in at least one other city or town in the state. We also looked at other sources of information, and when we learned about Beyond Plastics, we added "Skip the Stuff'' to our draft. I think we may be the first municipality in the state to have passed a Skip the Stuff law."
For 18 months, the Plastic Reduction Working Group drafted and redrafted the ordinance language as they continued to solicit feedback. Sunwoo remembers how important having a team was to move steadily through the process, "I was involved in working to pass the prohibition on polystyrene foam in Newton in 2019. This time, the proposed ordinance was more complicated due to the number of different items we were aiming to prohibit. Working with Vicki, Shara, and Alan enabled us to really think through the various items and to come up with reasonable compromises based on the feedback we heard."
On March 16, 2023 the team presented the ordinance to the City’s Programs & Services Committee, who voted to hold and schedule a public hearing which followed on June 6. On September 6, the committee voted 7-0 in support followed by a full City Council vote on September 18, 2023 with a unanimous vote of support 22-0! Newton’s mayor signed the Sustainable Food and Beverage Serviceware, Packaging, and Single Use Ordinance into law a few weeks later.
Green Newton’s campaign took two years from start to finish. Much of the time was spent meeting with stakeholders, educating and redrafting within the working group. There are so many takeaways from this successful campaign from landscape research, a plan with a realistic timeline, early engagement with stakeholders, a solid team with identified roles and overall, patience with the process. Bravo Green Newton— you’ve inspired us all!
Some of the wonderful people working to make Newton, MA greener! Back: Alan Gordon, Vicki Danberg; front: Shara Ertel, Sunwoo Kahng